New colored and fluorescent amine substrates for activated fibrin stabilizing factor (Factor XIIIa) and for transglutaminase.

Two fluorescent (FITC and 6-chloro-2-methoxyacridine) and an intensely colored (dabsyl) derivative of cadaverine were synthesized, following earlier work from this laboratory with dansyl-cadaverine, in order to enlarge the scope of possibilities for labeling some gamma-glutamine sites in proteins. Enzyme affinities of the amine substrates for human Factor XIIIa and for guinea pig liver transglutaminase were measured. The utility of dabsylcadaverine was further demonstrated by activity staining of these enzymes, following electrophoresis in agarose, and by measuring the Factor XIII zymogen of human plasma colorimetrically.